Something Worth Fighting For
by Felledor
Summary: What if the supposed terrorist attack of Lelouch's memory had been real, and what if Marianne had been saved?
1. Chapter 1 A Beginning

2015, A.T.B.

The Emperor sat on his throne. Unhappy. Such jovial behavior was unusual in his court. He was used to people talking in hushed whispers behind fans, not bellowing and laughing. He hated the holidays.

Rain splattered the windows, this cold December night, but that didn't bother him at all. The storm was just another part of life. Something unchangeable. He knew what he could and couldn't toy with, and he toyed with what he could to the utmost. Such was his position as Emperor, toying with the lives if those under him.

He signaled to his guards to accompany him out, then stood, and walked, with measured pace, down the center aisle. Everyone hushed and turned to watch, the room suddenly silent, and it was so till the door was banged shut behind thereafter, the door to the outer reception room opened, slamming against the wall as a man in a dark cloak stumbled inside, the tails of his coat whipping in the wind, his hands wrapped tightly around his waist, then he fell, his hands slipping away to reveal a bloodstained white uniform. The uniform of a perimeter guard.

The guards in the entrance hall were speechless for a moment, then the hall became a blaze of activity as the fallen guard was taken away, the rest of the guard and the knights of the round alerted, and everyone taken to a secure location. The Emperor's guard said to him, "Sir, for your security we should retire into the security room."

The Emperor contemplated this for a moment, knowing full well who was orchestrating this attack. his brother. V.V. had never approved of Marianne and her common blood. He looked at his guard, "Where is Marianne right now?" He demanded

"Sir, the Empress should be at the Aries Villa." The man responded.

"Good, send a contingent of guards to establish a perimeter. And The Knight of Four and Five" he ordered.

"Yes Sir, we'll contact them at once." The guard said.

Good thought the Emperor that's Marianne taken care of, "Deploy all available Knightmares and Guards, bring every one of the intruders in alive if possible. Kill any who resist." He ordered, before returning to the main hall and behind his massive throne, into a small security room, with several monitors, showing the various security feeds.

Vince Regas was off duty. Being not only a knight, but one of the Emperor's royal guard was tough. It usually involved long hours standing at attention in the main courtroom, or else in a knightmare patrolling the palace perimeter. Never anything interesting happened.

Then the alarm Klaxon went off.

Regas was up at once, pulling on his uniform and getting together with the rest of his unit, the 367th Imperial Knigtmare Squadron. It was a common myth that no unit of Knightmares in the Emperor's guard were allowed to hold the same unit designation. The 367th was more commonly known as the Gryphons, the last unit to be called the Gryphons, the 142nd IKS was wiped out during an attack by a prince who decided he wanted to take the throne by force.

It wasn't exactly the kind of reputation a name wanted to get. And it definitely wasn't the kind of reputation that you wanted the name of your unit to have. And the fact that the klaxon was sounding was bad news.

Then the Lieutenant started talking.

"We're being emergency scrambled to the Aries Villa. Move it!"

Nobody hesitated, the Lieutenant and Regas were the first ones into the hangar, and then the rest filed into their units. Then they launched, the door opening and each unit deploying its landspinners in order to move quickly. The Sutherlands moving in perfect coordination with one another, and a healthy chatter kept up for the first few seconds as everybody reported in. Then it went deathly silent.

When they arrived at the villa, a half-dozen other Sutherlands, the Dragons, the 309th IKS, by their markings, were already there. As well as a number of infantry guardsmen in night combat gear. In other words, all black and dark greys.

They began fanning out to cover ground, and more infantry came in, the two units of Knightmares taking up opposite side of the building, all watching on infra red and NV scopes for movement.

Then gunfire, a burst, and silence.

Another burst, this time Vince knew it came from the other side of the building. The two sides exchanged fire. But it seemed that the aggressors were winning. He heard an explosion. Then a tone indicating a unit lost. This wasn't going well. He radioed the Lieutenant.

"sir, known enemy on out six. Orders?"

"maintain formation corporal. We'll let them handle it."

Another tone. Another explosion, another knightmare lost.

"Sir they're losing to many forces..."

Then an explosion. The lieutenant ejected.

"Damn it, they've got the whole place encircled." Vince thought. But he couldn't see anything on any of his scopes. The lieutenant got out of his capsule and ran inside to the villa. The Empress stood dumbstruck in the entry hall. Not a guard in sight.

Vince outside, was having a difficult time. The terrorist were invisible and firing mercilessly. He was still standing, and firing. But it was doing little.

His unit was downed, and he ejected, he then joined his superior in the safety of the hall.

But it wasn't safe for long. Dark shapes were creeping up towards the windows, the gunfire now eerily silent.

"Empress!" Vince and the lieutenant yelled simultaneously. Diving in front of her as the bullets started to fly.

It was a good thing that the Knight's uniform was made to be bulletproof. Vince couldn't count the number of times he was hit. Three in the chest, five in the stomach, eight or nine to the leg. He was lucky to be alive after being hit that many times. The empress lay on the ground, princess Nunnuly, who he hadn't noticed on his way in, clutched to her.

There was no more gunfire. Whatever it was, it was over. The lieutenant lay dead, hit so many times that the Kevlar reinforcement in the uniform had been torn to shreds and perfected several times. He would be hailed as a hero, he had sacrificed himself for the Empress, his duty as a knight.

Two Knights of the Round arrived shortly thereafter, bringing along a contingent of infantry. They were late, but they had arrived.

"Who's in command here?" Asked one.

No one answered.

"Sir, the person who was in command is dead. I'm unsure of the chain of command due to multiple units being here." Vince replied after a long silence.

"Well I'm taking charge now." Said the one, "How is the Empress?"

"Alive and whole, but shaken." Vince replied.

"Alright then, this looks like a war zone, not a palace. Get inside you imbeciles, or did you not realize the house is the best cover you have?" The knight said, dismounting his knightmare. The knight walked up to him, "God in heaven what in hell happened to you?" He said upon seeing the bullet holes in Vince's uniform.

"I was shot saving the empress." He replied.

"How!" The knight asked incredulously.

"I dived to save her and well, this is good armor." Vince replied.

"Well, no more small talk. We need to see to the Empress." He said, brushing past Vince, "and get a fresh uniform, you look like a man who never changes clothes."

Vince was thinking of a good retort, but was unable. The man was immaculately dressed. He brushed past, the proceeded to the entrance hall. Where Marianne lay, still clutching Nunnuly to her. Lelouch stood at the top of the stairs with Cornelia and half a dozen royal guards in tow.

Cornelia looked horrified at the failure of herself and Marianne's guard, she was about to turn and leave when the knight stopped her. "There may be more yet about." He said

Cornelia nodded. Faced with a problem like this, she could work with. She was a soldier at heart, and nothing improved her spirits like the prospect of combat. Shortly thereafter, the Empress was helped to her feet, and, when she had assured the various guards and knights around her that she was fine, she was helped to the study to talk with her guards. Nunnuly and Lelouch were taken to bed.

It was late, and Vince was tired. They were all tired. Cornelia dismissed the additional guards, Vince included. The returned to their barracks to sleep and get this retched night off their minds.

It was Three days since the attack. No new officer had been posted at the Gryphons' barracks. No word had come as to who would replace the lieutenant.

Then, Vince woke up and found a slip of paper beside his bed. Well, actually, a small packet of papers. The first was a letter informing him that he had received the Medal of High Heroism, the highest medal awarded. Following that was the write up from the Knight of Four, then an official summons to the Emperor's court, for what he wasn't sure. The appointment was scheduled for just an hour from now, 0700. Apparently the Emperor woke up early.

Vince clambered out of his bunk and into a formal dress uniform, and at 0623 arrived outside to find a car waiting for him. He climbed in.

It was 0648 when they arrived at the throne building. Vince was admitted into the antechamber and differed to a cushioned bench while he waited. He didn't have to wait long. The previous petitioner came out in a huff, obviously the Emperor hadn't seen things his way. The herald signaled to him from the door. Vince stood up, walked over and waited while the herald got things in order then, the doors swung open, and the herald announced, "Announcing Sir Vince Regas, Knight of the Palace Guard and Hero of the Empire!"

Then Vince slowly advanced up to the throne at a measured pace, bowed and when the Emperor commanded, "Rise" he stood, eyes locked with the man he had been protecting. Or at least, so he thought.

"I have made a descion about you. I am hereby promoting you to Captian. You will be transferred to General Roderick's Command."

Vince was dumbstruck. "Thank you my lord." He stammered.

But the Emperor wasn't finished, "Furthermore I am granting you and all your family and descendants the title of Lord, and all associated privileges. I hereby grant you Tellon manor in Area 2 as your fief."

Once more Vince stammered, "Thank you my lord." This was extremely rare. A commoner like him was only given a noble title if they somehow pleased the Emperor in the extreme. Apparently the Empress Marrianne was quite important to him.

"You may go." The Emperor said in clear dismissal. Vince needed no second hint, he turned smartly, and walked at the same measured pace back down the isle he had come. But this time there were whispers among the crowd as to what this meant, and he even heard bets being made as to which prince would take him for an ally.

He returned in the same car to his barracks, official notification of his transfer and new uniform on his bed. He also was granted two weeks leave to organize things at his manor. Not that it mattered. He would have trouble traveling there in the winter. But it should make a fine summer home. He made some calls to tell his family of the news, but they told him that they had already been notified.

He lay on his bed wondering what he would do with his two weeks.


	2. Chapter 2, A New Commander, a New War

January, 6, 2016 A.T.B.

Vince looked at the man who was his new commander. Henry Roderick was a legend in the Britanian military. The man had won the key Siege of Rio de Janeiro during the 2007 Indian Uprising, as well as orchestrating the largest landing in history, over 3,000,000 troops and some 2,000 Knightmares storming the beaches, and landing by paradrop throughout the North African Deseret. But it had been for little. A significant portion of those original forces had been relocated to area 11 and the E.U. Border for security, and he was stripped of all but the Roderick Battalion, so called because it was the only unit which he had direct command of. His infantry force was reduced to about Three Quarters of a Million, and he had maybe 100 Knightmares. Which is why his force had been stalled by the relatively weak El Alamein line. His naval support was being fended off by enemy subs, and his air support by enemy SAMs. The only options left to him were to move in from the south, impossible for Knightmares due to the sand dunes, or right up the gut, a heavily fortified and mined area. He was, to put it shortly, stuck.

"Alright captain Regas." He finally said, breaking the tense silence, "I didn't want you, but I do have a use for you."

Vince was both shot down and perked up by this.

"I'm sending you in. Battalion Wing 4 is your command, the worst pilots I have." The general continued, "mind you, even my bad pilots are good."

Vince decide to say something, "sir, do I have the freedom to plan my attack?"

"You do Captain, you may attack from any direction you can, you also may take the 75th Air Fighter/Bomber Wing for air support."

"Thank you sir, permission to leave sir?" Vince asked.

"Granted, get moving."

Vince left the large command building in the base that Roderick had set up in Al Dabaa. It's costal location was an issue, but it was a risk the General was willing to take.

After a few minutes search Vince found the small compound of the 4th Wing. It was well kept, relatively new, and the hangars showed excellent conditioned Knightmares. These men might be the worst, but their barracks and equipment showed a respect and understanding of the importance of these.

Most of the men were out on patrols, and he waited for them to come back in.

The squads trickled in one after another. Securing their main action Knightmares beside the backup ones Vince had observed earlier. Each squad had either an NCO or junior officer in command. Squad 1, comprised of the only ace other than Vince himself, as well as some of the better pilots, was commanded by Warrant Officer Hopkins, a commoner who was proven to be an ace pilot. Squad 2 was commanded by a 2nd Lieutenant, Squad 3 was commanded by a Sargent, and Squad 4 by a corporal.

A fifth unit, designated Wing 4 Support Group 1 or W4SG1 for short, consisted of primarily infantry made mobile by APCs and tanks and operated under his command, but it's own commander was 1st lieutenant Washington. Washington, who could trace his heritage back to George Washington, was an honorary britannian from area 1. The fact that was a number seemed to make no difference to the knightmare pilots, nor to washington's men, who also appeared to by numbers, 1s by the look of it.

"Squad and unit commanders, the planning room. We need to discuss our next mission assignments." Vince said, waving his hand in dismissal of the others.

The gathered around a reasonably sized table, with a map stretched out on it. It showed the locations of the Brittanian permanent emplacements as well as those of the MEF. Vince pointed to a point with two SAM emplacements as well as a hangar and runway, not to mention the numerous storehouse and other buildings.

"That is the enemy base." Vince stated. "Our objective is to take it."

The commanders looked at him aghast. Taking the impervious fortress?

"Knightmares are equipped with tracking and guidance systems, the chief use for these is to fire weapons against enemy forces. However, I have determined that a Knightmare Rifle should be able to put up enough flak in order to shoot down enemy SAMS."

The officers and squad commanders were beginning to catch his drift, Washington figured it out first.

"Then the Knightmares will provide cover for the Air Units, while they destroy key enemy positions, in theory a good plan, but do we have enough Knightmares to cover against the incoming fire?"

Vince mulled over this for a moment, Washington was obviously an intelligent man and capable leader.

"Actually, the Knightmares will be acting in the air. Knightmare transports allow the knightmare some mobility, and therefore, we can use them the keep our Knightmares in the air and destroying enemy anti-air missiles, while destroying them, the W4SG1 will paradrop in behind enemy lines, and support the Wing in the assault." Vince explained.

This seemed to satisfy Washington, and the others nodded.

Then Vince started talking specifics, flight paths, altitudes, armaments, etc. the commander of the air wing they were to cover joined them, and received an explanation of the plan, he thought it crazy, but most ignored his complaints. Vince had done a good job of explaining it to them.

When finally they broke for the night, Vince was satisfied with the plan the had drawn up. He was preparing to brief the general on the matter when Washington approached him.

"Sir, with all due respect, I may approve of the plan, but it will require very precise timing and coordination. I'm not sure if you are able to do such a thing."

Vince looked at the man, "the plan will work, we just need to make sure none of those SAMs gets through."

"Very well sir." Washington said, saluted, turned and walked away. Vince continued along towards the General Command block, where, even though it was well past the moon's zenith, General Roderick still stood, watching the IFF boards and coordinating troop movements. Vince saluted when he looked over at him.

"What do you have for me Captain?" Roderick said.

"A mission brief for our next mission sir, the one you personally assigned us." Vince replied.

"Alright, hand it over." Roderick replied. Vince handed the thin stack of papers containing the plans for each unit of his forces through the operation. The general flipped through it, and then signed off on it.

"You plan is approved Captain. You have permission to proceed at the specified time." He said.

"Yes sir, thank you sir." Vince said, saluted, and walked out, he gave calls out to his commanders to brief their units at 0530 and to have them ready for the beginning of the operation at 0640 the operation would commence at 0700.

January 7, 2016 a.t.b. 0400

3 hours before his the plan he masterminded was set to commence, Vince sat in the mess hall that Wing 3 shared with them. He was drinking coffee he had made himself. The cooking staff hadn't yet arrived to start cooking for the 0500 breakfast. He was great full for the silence it offered him.

The door opened, and the Wing 3 captain entered. "Thought I might find you here, Regas." She said.

"Hmmmm?" Vince queried.

"I know you've been cleared for a dawn attack. I thought I should tell you, expect heavy resistance. The enemy is heavily entrenched and believed to have several Knightmares, possible Glasgows."

"I factored that in, even if enemy air power is significant, our fighters should be able to win out. The main problem is those damned SAMs. If we can't get our bombers through the flak to destroy the emplacements, we'll be forced to retreat and abort the op. the entire operation will be dependent upon W4SG1 pushing through after that, landing, and supplying us with reinforcements in terms of infantry before the enemy KMF's can react."

The captain looked at him, "so basically, if the AA isn't gone by the time Washington s flying over, you're screwed."

"Basically." Vince agreed.

"We'll, good luck with that." She said before leaving. It was going to be a long day, Vince thought to himself.

—

AN: Thank you for reading, it can be hard to write, especially from only one POV. Please leave a review, especially iw old like serious reviews with constructive criticism. That will help me make the story more enjoyable.

also, don't expect the updates to always be this fast, as I already had this one written well before I published chapter one.


	3. Chapter 3 The Best Laid Plans

0645 January, 7, 2016 a.t.b.

The fighters, bombers and transports of the 75th Fighter/Bomber Squadron were lined up on the Tarmac of the airfield south of Al Dabba that was being used for the Operation, code aimed, Flying Sword. Every pilot's stress levels well above normal. This was a risky operation, using partially deployed Knightmares as a SAM shield was an untested idea, one that Vince intended to become a common strategy.

The onscreen countdown timer reached 2 minutes. 0658. Then, an alert signal went off in Vince's cockpit. "Enemy counterattack, scramble all units, repeat, all units immediate scramble."

"This is Captain Regas to all units, we will maintain schedule and launch our operation at 0700. Prepare for earlier than expected flak. Do not break intended course unless you are forced down." Vince called to his own men, "Understood?"

"Yes, My lord." The men chorused. Vince smiled. With the enemy forces primarily held up fighting, fewer men would be available to defend. That meant he would have an easier time. The counter clicked zero.

"Commence operation!" He yelled. The first squadron of fighters took off, meant to fend off enemy air power while any other aircraft launched.

"Sir, three enemy stealth squadrons approaching. Permission to engage?" One of the pilots asked.

"Granted." Vince replied, "hold them off until reinforcements arrive."

The fighters moved to intercept. "Reorganize launch order, priority to fighters!" Vince ordered. "Second priority knightmare transports, third priority to bombers." The aircraft responded as ordered. Good, they would deviate from the plan when needed.

As the next squadron launched the third was already lining up on the runway. After that the Knightmares were lined up in three groups, then bombers, as ordered.

The third squadron launched as the last enemy fighter was destroyed. The Knightmares began forming up as the bombers began their takeoff sequence. Everything was going according to plan after that hiccup.

"Washington, switch to timetable Gamma Niner. We've had a problem launching."

"Roger, timetable change acknowledged, Washington over and out."

"All units, begin Phase 1, variant Echo, Foxtrot, Delta."

"Copy, arranging for Variant Echo!" Came a chorus of voices from unit one

"Copy, variation Foxtrot Acknowledged." Hopkins responded, accompanied by others from that unit.

"Unit three, acknowledging variant Delta."

"Right," Vince said, "I'll be with three."

"Copy that, handing command over to you." The lieutenant who was nominally in charge said.

"Estimating 3 minutes to commencement of phase 2, maintain current pattern. Phase 2 will be Charlie, Bravo, Bravo" Vince said.

"Roger" chorused the voices of the various pilots.

The rest of the next three minutes was relatively calm. With most enemy forces engaged at the base, fewer enemy sentinels were posted, and their assumed air superiority they were running their air defenses on skeleton crews and automatic. A poor way to run an army. Their attack showed they were on their last legs and desperate. Vince saw through the ploy that their attack would show great strength. Numbers was no match for superior weapons armor, training, and commanders.

Then they entered the missile zone.

"Commence Phase 2" Vince ordered, shifting his knightmare into the position he wanted, partially deployed.

"Yes, sir." Came the voices of the Knightmare Pilots.

The missiles started coming thick and fast after that, Vince tapped the auto-track so he could target and destroy the missiles. He continually fired his gun, and so did the others. Then, nothing. They had drained the first line of its missiles.

"Bombers, prepare for ground attack." Vince ordered. Technically this was phase three, but he didn't care about formality in the middle of a war zone. The bombers closed up, their missile and bomb hatches opening, and the first SAM site came into view.

The bombs fell. Then, a few seconds later. Explosions blasted through the land as the SAM emplacement and the nearby fortifications were destroyed.

"This is ComThree, ComOne, ComTwo, what's your status, over?" Vince asked over the radio.

"This is ComTwo, we're still taking heavy flak, coming in for our attack run now."

"This is ComOne, we have the first target in sight, and are commencing attack."

"Roger All Com units report in when targets are destroyed, over." Vince replied to them

"Roger" the other commanders said in unison.

Vince was sitting in a Knightmare hovering over a desert escorting bombers. Well, life has its twists and turns he thought.

He was interrupted by the commander of unit one radioing in the destruction of a target.

"ComTwo, you read?" Vince said.

There was no response.

"ComTwo, Do you read, this is ComThree, over." He repeated.

Nothing but static on the radio.

"ComThree, ComTwo, comms difficulties, over." Came a voice after a view strained minutes. Vince sighed in relief.

"Copy ComTwo, we read you, uh, Status of Attack?" Vince replied

Static, then "Two bombers destroyed, *static* and Half our Kni *static* ares. We're being hammered. Get *static* fast." The other commander said, before the static reigned supreme.

"Sir, enemy Knightmares in front of us and behind us!" Called one of the pilots.

"Enemy aircraft incoming from 9 O'clock!" Yelled another

Soon the channel was buzzing with comms as pilots reported enemy's spotted.

"Damn it. They trapped us." Vince said to himself, and then, into the radio, "Knighmares full deployment, engage enemy ground forces. Your very lives depend on it!"

They began deploying, the 8 Knightmares descending rapidly, Vince firing the whole way down.

"ComOne, ComThree, we've been forced down, advise immediate strategic withdraw, repeat ComOne, We're down, withdraw immediately." Vince said.

"copy, ComThree, ComOne withdrawing forces, advise W4SG1 to use Contigency Omega?" The man replied.

"That's confirmed, advise W4SG1 of immediate Contingency Omega." Vince replied.

"Copy, Contingency Omega confirmed." The man replied before cutting communications.

They were on their own.

Until Washington could push thought that was. But the chances of that were slim to none. Not with this kind of resistance. The general was a properly trained officer. He was some schmo who got lucky and on the emperor's good side. He had no proper training, nor any knowledge who how to run an operation. He had been assisted in this one by lower officers and also by the general who had given him half decent officers.

his forces were split, the enemy had shown an over abundance of strength, and they had hidden their strength into making him think they were far away. They had perfectly set and baited the trap. He bit without even thinking. Now he was going to suffer the consequences. That was, the lives of his men, and possibly his own.

Needless to say, he tried to ignore the port entail consequences of his failure, and focus more on the fact that he had to shoot the Glasglows and Bamides in front of him. It wasn't easy, however, his mind went back to it every time he destroyed and enemy. The men, their families. Damn it. He wasn't going to let one of his Knightmares fall. Not one more.

He felled another enemy knightmare. Then another fell as his men defeated it. The enemy were obviously reserves or lower class troops. The front most likely contained their higher class pilots. his gun jammed and he switched to his stun tonfas. Hammering through another knightmare he yelled through the loudspeaker, "All units withdraw, we can win a prolonged engagement."

His men took the order well, by pushing their way out and turning thbacta ding battle into a running battle, the enemies pilots and machines were spaced out and easier to destroy. It was a simple matter of shooting any who got too close. Or else smashing them with stun tonfas.

Vince's retreat was going as planned, but where was Washington with that air support? He wasn't going to cross back to friendly lines so easily without a fairly strong infantry force, and he had none. Then he heard it. The jets of a paradrop plane. He saw the men in black armor standing in the door, then, one jumped, and another, followed by another. Then came the interesting part. The vehicle choppers. Large helicopter converted into vehicle carriers for the army. They could carry trucks, tanks, and in a pinch, even carry Knightmares. With complete enemy air superiority eliminated, they were moving forward, able to use air power against the MEF. It was working.

"Push towards the evac zone. move or you'll be left!" Vince practically yelled into the radio.

the evcaution zone was just ahead, a planned extraction site for just this case. But their own fighters were still busy getting the bombers home. He couldn't count on anything more than perhaps getting of the ground, and that was being optimistic. They were all pushing their Knightmares to the limit, and the first choppers were landing, starting to deploy cover tanks and anti-armor guns.

The contingency plan was working anyway, at least he knew how to plan for something going wrong. The first of the evacuation choppers was hovering, taking aboard a knightmare. Next one up was taken and so was the next. He took the last one. Then the cover tanks were retrieved and they returned to base. They took light flak but suffered no losses themselves.

He wasn't so sure about Hopkins and Unit Two.

* * *

AN: I figured out how to put in divider lines. Yay!

i said I wasn't going to keep updating so fast, but chapter 4 is already ready, so 3 is going out early.

originally when I started writing this chapter, I was going to have the attack go perfectly. But then I read through sun-tzu's the art of war. That changed my mind quickly.

please leave a review, it really does help.


	4. Chapter 4, The Gauntlet

0706, January 7, 2016 a.t.b.

Hopkins was in his Knightmare, the one place he loved and hated most in the world. He was also in command, something that he was okay at, but he was content to leave command to superiors. Well, his new Captain wasn't doing a great job, after there previous captain had died, exactly twelve hours after assuming his post. The one before that had lasted three days, and the one before that had lasted a week. He had come in with low hopes for this Captain Regas, he had half expected him not to last the night.

But this was near madness, flying straight into a hail of enemy anti-air missiles in nothing but Knightmares? Who would have thought it would actually work? Apparently this new guy was creative. But he obviously wasn't a conventionally trained officer. A conventionally trained officer would never have done something like this.

"This is ComThree, ComOne, ComTwo, What's your status?" Regas said over the radio.

Hopkins answered immediately, "This is ComTwo, we're still taking heavy flak, coming in for our attack run now."

The other commander also responded. But he couldn't make it out, because it statices out.

Wait a minute he thought to himself we're hardly half a kilometer away, why would it be staticing unless...

"It's a trap!" He yelled into the radio.

"Sir, are you sure?" Asked one of his men.

"I'm positive, all units, commence withdraw, I don't give a damn if we're court martialed." He said.

"Copy that sir." One of his men said.

Then, several loud ringings. Units lost.

"Damn." Hopkins said.

"That about sums it up." Said one of the downed men, who had ejected in time.

"All troops prepare to deploy for ground assault." Hopkins ordered.

There was static, as though one of the other unit commanders was trying to reach them. When finally a voice did come through it was interspersed with static, "ComTwo *static* ComThree, Over"

"ComThree, ComTwo, Comms difficulties, over." Hopkins said. He repeated this several times, before finally he got a response.,

"Copy ComTwo, *static* status of attack?" Came the reply.

Hopkins replied, "Two bombers destroyed, half our Knightmares gone, we're being hammered, get here with help fast!"

However, the radio was silent and stayed that way. Looks like the MEF had finally completely clamped off their communications. It was a sad thing, losing contact with any allied forces. He guessed that his four remaining Knightmares would have to hold out while he figured out how they were getting out.

"All Knightmares, push for a retreat. Do not allow the enemy even a small victory here! We will not surrender, we will not compromise. We are Brittanians we will have victory! Even if it means retreating now, every soldier is worth something, we will live to fight another day!"

Well, inspiring speech out of the way, Hopkins decided it was best for him to get down to shooting the enemy. Which wasn't easy. Bamides and Glasgows were tough, and he was most definitely going to need to do his best. He fired his rifle and blasted a leg off of a Glasgow, the pilot of which ejected. Next he gunned down a Bamide and his men finished it. But there had to be a dozen more still. He shot a Glasgow through the cockpit, and it exploded afterwards. Another Bamide went down, the result of a man breaking through and shooting it up close. A Glasgow went down under the assault of his other men. They were winning, but barely. His gun jammed and he used his Slash Harkens to destroy another enemy, then he cleanly deflected a Glasgow's Slash Harken that had been aiming for him.

"Concentrate on the retreat, push through now!" Hopkins ordered.

"Yes, My Lord!" chorused his three men.

Two enemy Bamides went down. Hopkins couldn't tell clearly what had destroyed them at first, but he realized that a bombers gun turret had been they hand. His air power wasn't out yet. Hopkins began falling back, his men forming up about him, the pressed their way through two Glasgows that stood in their way. However, enemy reinforcements had arrived, in the form of more Knightmares, and Hopkins didn't want to lose men.

"Retreat, fall back to position Omega and signal for a pickup!" He ordered.

They did so, the enemy behind them, two occasionally stopped to allow the other to gain ground. Then they would stop, and so forth, the maneuver being a common one, the bounding advance, or in this case, bounding retreat. The retreat was going well, until a force of enemy tanks and Knightmares appeared over the horizon. The enemy attack force retreating right onto them.

"OPEN FIRE!" Hopkins yelled.

The men didn't respond, they just fired anything that was still working, Hopkins got his own gun working again. Their surprise advantage didn't last long, as the enemy tanks opened up, along with a few of the Knightmares, although most of these were captured Glasgows. In fact, Hopkins didn't see a single Bamide in the group, which meant...

"Scatter!" He ordered.

The men responded flawlessly, merging into a crossing scatter pattern, and just in time, as the course they had been following exploded with artillery shells just a moment later. They had gotten off lucky.

"Enemy Bamides are hiding amongst the dunes. We can't trust anywhere to stand and fight." Hopkins assessed out loud.

"Alright, what do you want us to do?"

"Keep moving, get around this formation, we're going to have to go back to base in our Knightmares." Hopkins said.

"Copy, sir, confirmed, we'll RTB on Knightmares."

Good Hopkins thought. That was the problem of getting back to base solved, but they would still have to dodge enemy patrols and fire. That would be a problem. They needed a solid way to get past them. It was a problem he wasn't trained for anything but his own survival and that of downed pilots in a situation like this.

Then he realized something. They might be beyond enemy jamming range.

"Home Base, Home Base, Come in Home Base, This is Warrant Officer Hopkins, Comms code clearance Omega Alpha Delta Sierra."

"We read you WO Hopkins, go ahead." Came through a voice on the other end, not the usual operator for this time of day, either.

"Home Base, Flight Group Two of Millitary Operation Flight Flying Sword were forced down and in need of evac. We are experiencing heavy enemy resistance. Over." Hopkins responded.

"Copy that Hopkins, we read you. Friendly forces will be dispatched." Came the voice. Finally he figured it out. It was the General's right hand man, Colonel Jacobson. Well, if he was on, then something was going on.

Air support wasn't long in coming, the enemy was bombarded by both close air support and bombing. They were given an opportunity. Hopkins made the most of it, breaking for friendly line, which had advanced over the horizon and into view. His unit formed up around them, he ensured that their IFFs were working so as to avoid a friendly fire incident.

He was lucky, the friendliest opened up to allow him past, then they opened up on the enemy, they were within friendly lines. The Colonel was apparently quite concerned, probably more for the precious Knightmares and the pilots than the individuals, but it was good news.

"Hopkins, you still there?" Jacobson asked over the radio.

"Yes sir, Still here, go ahead." Hopkins responded.

"Your CO wants a word." Jacobson said.

Commanding Officer? Did he mean the general? Or perhaps he meant Regas, the captain of his wing. Really, it didn't matter.

He was more surprised at a female voice over the radio.

"Hopkins, you reading me?" Came the voice.

"Loud and clear, uh..." He let the question imply itself.

"Captain Murdock, Wing 4." She said.

Well, Regas was apparently no change to the usual pattern, transferred or dead within a few days of arriving.

"Right." He said, wondering what had happened to Regas.

* * *

0723, January 7, 2016 a.t.b.

Vince had just arrived back from being flown back into base after the failed mission. He was disappointed in himself, disappointed in his failure to see the obvious capability of the enemy to draw him in and destroy him. The obvious answer was the enemy had anticipated this move, or a similar one, and had laid plans against it.

then he went to his quarters. On the bed he found a folded sheet of paper. Orders? A Transfer? Some favor from the Emperor? Well, there was only one way to find out.

He reached for the paper, unfolded it and read it. A transfer. It looked as though he was being moved out of North Africa. He continued reading. Area 11? He wondered what that was about. The he noted the bottom. He was being transferred to the security task force responsible for a prince. Prince Lelouch too. The was just great, as a favor he was being moved from a post where he would actually see action to a boring one as of all things, a Math teacher. Just great.

If that wasn't enough, the paper had an imperial seal on it. And beneath that was an envelope withsome no doubt important information, sure he had majored in math at university before joining the army, but he was rusty. He needed refresher. He opened the envelope. It was an offer from Prince Lelouch to be among his royal guard. He had to consider that seriously, being a royal guard was a high honor, even promotion, being granted nobility, and transfer to an action station paled the honor of which he was given as a royal guard and palace guard. The chance to go back to that. That was rare. He would need to take up the princes offer. He called the number listed from his office phone.

"Hello?" A most definitely teenaged voice asked.

"Captain Vince Regas Speaking, Brittanian Knightmare Corps. Roderick's Battalion, To whom am I speaking?"

"This is Prince Lelouch Vi Brittania."

"I understand your highness, I have received your offer, to join your royal guard, that is."

"Ah, yes, the invitation. I will gladly accept you Captain. I believe you also were notified about my future schooling?"

"Yes, I was informed of your schooling, a private academy in Area 11. I will join your royal guard."

"Excellent. A replacement for you at your current position has already been arranged. As well as a flight to Area 11, where you will assume your post."

"Thank you, your Highness."

"Good day."

"Good day." Vince said finally, hanging up.

it looked like Vince was going to Area 11.

* * *

AN: this is my first chapter that is significantly non-Vince. I hope to start doing more of that, since it allows for longer chapter.

Pleas leave a review, as the feedback is always appreciated, even if it's negative.

-Felledor


	5. Chapter 5 The Beginning of Something

January 8, 2016 a.t.b.

Lelouch smiled. A mirthless grin. The young noble was renowned as a chess player. Lelouch had neatly pinned him. The noble made a desperate play, using his knight to block. Lelouch slid a bishop across the board, stealing his hope. The noble moved his king, but then Lelouch slid his knight across to bring him back under control. Another move would bring his queen into a perfect position. The noble, knowing he was utterly defeated, tipped his king, resigning and conceding the game to Lelouch.

Lelouch had never been a great sportsman, and so he decided not to shake the proffered hand. Instead motioning the noble out, they were of course at the Aries Villa, one of the advantages of royalty was that when playing anyone except royalty, which was fairly exclusively Schniezel nowadays, he got to choose where they played.

Schniezel, the one person he could never beat. Now he was being sent to Area 11 to "Learn how the lower classes lived" or so the Emperor put it. Since it was a direct order, he couldn't disobey. Instead, he had been forced to ask Schniezel to help him put together security and a royal guard. Several men had already been selected, and when school resumed in a few weeks, he would join whatever its name was private academy as Lelouch Lamprouge, since he hadn't made a public debut yet, nobody should recognize him, and a few select men would be on the school's staff, just in case.

Of course, he would have to occasionally talk to Clovis and Cornelia, but that was manageable. He could live with talking to them. The larger problem would be money. Oh yes, here he lived in splendor, and of course, all his school expenses would be taken care of for him, but if he wanted money to spend, he would have to make it himself. He figured his forte was chess, and so, he would most likely end up using chess and gambling together to make money. The problem would be where to get start-up cash and transportation, he couldn't well walk everywhere, and he couldn't well bet money without having any.

In other words, he would need somebody to loan it. He would have to start small, playing local chess players and minor nobility, he couldn't play in a large scale setting. Since that would get him arrested. As a prince he could do anything not specifically forbidden by the Emperor, but as a commoner, he was limited by laws. His option then, was to either acquire the money for startup through someone at the school, or to hard earn it, and then multiply it.

He decided the first choice would be better, unless he happened across enough money to get him started on the way there, or in the intervening weeks, in the mean time, his security was securing their posts at the school, the Ashford Academy, run by some disinherited Ashford who had kept the name because the Ashfords were in favor in the court. There were also rumors of the Ashfords secretly supporting the Academy.

Of course, he placed no faith in rumors, and the disinherited fool had done well for the school, it was one of the most prestigious in Area 11, fairly liberal, and accepted any citizen. A select few Elevens had been admitted, but for some reason they had all almost immediately been put on disciplinary notice, and then expelled from school. So sad, as a PR move, the principal admitted them, and then when they were beaten and bullied, they were punished as a result. That was the kind of twisted logic that Brittania ran on. He hated it. The constant war and fighting, the internal strife, social Darwinism was not how one ran a country, for the strongest was not always best, often times the strong pay for strength with brains, becoming nothing more than shells of muscle and tissue, or the mentally strong were born weak and feeble, and thus unable to put to use their own strengths. Then there were those born with genetic disabilities. It was horrible, dishonorable, and underhanded. The Emperor was only permitted to stay on the throne because none of his children had garnered enough support to challenge him, and Lelouch suspected that his being sent to Area 11 was just another tactic to slow down his own support gathering.

Not that he had been doing much of that. He hadn't really joined the succession games. Schniezel, Odysseus and Clovis were all garnering support, but no him, he was currently willing to sit in the shadows and watch. A striker out of the shadow, perhaps even a dark horse for the throne. That would be interesting. However, he did not want strife to follow the Emperor's death, chaos would only serve to weaken the empire, something unacceptable, even to him.

Someone knocked at the door. "Come." Lelouch said.

It was Schniezel. Lelouch turned to him, "What may I do for you, Brother?"

"Actually more like what can I do for you. May I introduce Sergeant Nathaniel Fields, a young soldier whom is vetted in personal protection as well as, ah, blending in." Schniezel Replied. A young man, perhaps Lelouch's own age entered, he was wearing the uniform of the OSI.

"I see. So, has father set up an OSI post at the school to protect me?" Lelouch asked.

"He has, the OSI and the royal guard we have been assembling for you will jointly handle security. It was a demand from the Emperor that you immediate guard be OSI, I picked the best one available." Schniezel replied.

"Our cover stories will be that we're old friends, attending school together, and that we're both minor nobility. Correct?"

"Correct, Sergeant Fields has been temporarily authorized to behave as nobility for this mission, your cover stories and backgrounds were arranged by the Emperor, so their should be no flaws."

"Very well then, I believe that Nathan and I had better familiarize and get our story straight." Lelouch said.

"Of course." Schniezel said, standing to leave. He did so, and Nathan decided to take a seat, not the one the prince had so recently vacated. He seemed to have a strict code.

"Very well, Nathan, I shall put on no pretenses, since we must know each provider well." Lelouch said.

Nathan settled in for a long conversation.

* * *

Vince had just touched down in area 11, the pocket calendar he kept to keep up with his appointment informed him of the meeting he had in just under half an hour, it was with the chief of the joint security team, or so he had been informed.

he stepped of the plane, a military jet reserved for officers, usually colonels and generals, but he had been cleared for its use. He was on a military base, and a low ranking staff officer greeted him, then handed him over to an orderly to show him to the meeting room where the conference of the upper ring of the security force was to be held.

when he arrived the other three attendees were already assembled, he was still a full quarter hour early.

"Well, since we're all here, we might as well get started." Said one, he was wearing an OSI commander's uniform.

"first things first, Captain Regas. This if Lieutenant Colonel Hampton, he is in command of the royal guard." he said, motioning to the other man in a regular military uniform, "and this is Woods, he is a," he paused briefly, considering it, "High ranking officer, although not as high as myself," he then paused while the two shook hands, "and I am Commander Darret." He said finally, concluding his introductions.

"I am pleased to meet you all, as the Commander said, i am Captain Regas, former member of the Imperial Royal guard, shortly an officer in the service of General Roderick, i am now pleased to join Prince Lelouch's royal guard." Vince said, formally introducing himself.

"Well then, introductions out of the way, down to business." Darret said, "The school the prince will be attending consists of over twenty buildings, each with multiple floors, including basements."

a map of the school grounds showing detailed blueprints of each building was brought onto the screen.

"We shall establish two command posts, one on sight in the Lower levels, out of student access, and the other in a nearby house. Once our field operations begin, nobody will wear a uniform, we will all be undercover, Captain Regas, I believe you have your assignment already." Darret continued.

"Yes sir, I'll be onsite Commander and undercover as a math teacher, there is an opening after the previous teacher was killed in a terrorist attack these past few weeks." Vince said, "An unfortunate and fortunate turn if events."

"Continuing on, Lieutenant Colonel, you'll be offsite and in charge of emergency response. Woods will be in command of the onsite OSI unit, and I will be offsite." Darrect finished, "Are there any questions?"

there was a brief pause, and seeing as no one had any questions, he continued, "OSI will monitor all activity and provide an internal undercover force, the royal guard is providing a handful of direct contacts onsite as well. These contacts will primarily be in the guise of teachers. The OSI will vary in guise. Offsite forces will be in possession of a Knightmare, a Glasgow, remarked as non-military. OSI external will be responsible for keeping up with the terrorists. We must remember, we are here for one reason, the protection of prince Lelouch. Failure is not an option, dismissed." Darret said.

Vince stood up and turned to leave, his next appointment being with the principal of Ashford, the school the prince would be attending, and this would have to be in plainclothes, so he changed into a suit and selected a modest car for the off-base meeting.

As he drove through the light mid-afternoon traffic, he relected on what he had just heard. So he was being put in a position of command again, commanding the only force that could easily stand in the way of a determined attacker and the prince. He was determined to succeed.

he pulled up to the school, a private school with a closed campus, a pair of guards stood at the gate, one in the guardhouse, the other outside it, waiting for a car. Vnce pulled up, and the guard walked over, Vince rolled down his window.

"Can I help you sir?" The guard asked.

"Yes, my name is Vince Regas, I'm here for an interview for a position." Vince replied.

"Identification and invitation please sir." The guard requested. Vince handed the man his ID and letter of comfirmation, inviting him to campus for the interview.

after a brief check to confirm the credntials were legitimate, the guard signalled his compatriot to open the gate. As the guard handed back the credentials he said, "have a nice day sir."

Vince parked his car at the large lot at the front of the school, the walked to where the administration building was. He opened the door, and entered into a waiting room, with a receptionist and a few couchs, chairs, and tables arranged. He went up to the receptionist.

"may i help you?" She asked.

"Yes, I'm here for an interview for employment, as a teacher." Vince replied.

"I see, let me look. Ah yes, a Three O'Clock appointment. The principal is busy roght now, but I'll let him know you're here." The receptionist replied.

"Thank you very much." Vince said.

He found a chair, sat down, and started reading a magazine as he waited. When, a few minutes later, the receptionist called him, he stood up.

"Principal Ashford will see you now." She said.

Vince nodded to her and stood up to enter the wing where the office was marked to be. He walked along to the end of the hall, where the sign above the door read "Principal Ashford" He entered the door.

"Mr. Regas." Ashford said, nodding his head towards a chair.

Vince took the seat he designated. "Thank you for agreeing to see me." Vince said.

"Yes, well, I'm short a math teacher, and you're both qualified, and highly recommended. I have a recommendation from Prince Schniezle el Brittania himself." Ashford replied.

"I see." Vnce replied.

"Yes, and I was appraised in that letter that your purpose would be the protection of a prince. I was also informed that it would be Prince vi Brittania, Lelouch, i believe hus first name was."

"I can neither confirm nor deny that sir, although if a prince chose to appraise you to this particular situation, of a knight going into the school system, well, i can't change that." Vince replied.

"you took that rather smoothly." Ashford commented.

"Part of my training was PR, we are trained in the military to handel, ah, delicate situations, in which a person provides a situaion and plausible evidence to indicate why a person is in such and such a position, or somesuch." Vince replied.

"Alright, you've won me over. I'll hire you. Classes restart on the 18th, your classroom and office information will be forwarded to you in a few days." Ashford said.

"understood, and thank you sir." Vnce said.

"It's Daniel, unless it's a formal school occasion. Got it?" Ashford said.

"Understood." Vince replied.

* * *

Washington drummed his fingers. Another command change. This time it was a bright girl fresh out of officer's school. Apparently she had some connections and had been promoted quickly and transferred in. Nobody told her about the curse. It was bad manners to tell someone that their coveted position would be ripped out of their hands shortly. It would either be by death or by transfer, but nobody in the unit ever saw one of their previous commanders again.

Until now. Washington's orders were clear. He was being given the Emperor's elite airborne SpecOps team. He was a number, he ranked higher than most numbers, being a one and appearing much like a Brittanian, but his hertiage would profe the Brittanians were superior to him. Until now, he had been a fairly young number officer over number troops. Now he was being handed a Special Operations team hardened by war, simpply to protect a prince. He was going to Area 11, where, from his last contact with Regas, his former captain was as well.

It would be interesting to seme him again

* * *

AN: my longest chapter so far, this one is the first with Lelouch's pov and also Washington's POV, also, if somebody wants to come up with a first name for washington, that would be awesome, otherwise I have to think of one, and thinkingof so many names makes my head hurt.

Please tell me what you think, any concerns you have, etc.

thanks for reading!

-Felledor


	6. Chapter 6, Contact

January 15, 2017 a.t.b.

Lelouch and Nathan stepped on to the school's grounds for the first time. The school was surrounded by a fence, and inside directly ahead was a path leading between two pools of water extending to a small semicircular paved area in front of, what was according to his map, the clubhouse. Of to their left, a green, and to their right, a group of buildings labeled as the dormitories.

They moved down between the pools to the paved area, where they took a left and across a stream stood the main administration building, a small, low-key affair of one story and teo wings, with a shallow dime rising out of the center. Surrounding it, forming an open courtyard, were two other buildings, these were the two primary class buildings. Farther back were the sports facilities, and to their right stood a small laboratory building. Still on their left was the open park like area.

They entered into the administration building, a relatively spartan lobby greeted them, a receptionist sitting at the desk. She looked up momentarily before waving them to a pair of open chairs. After that she went back to her work. Lelouch, although he had been choached, was yet unused to such flippant behavior. If he had his way, he would have smacked the woman before ordering her bound and removed. As it was, Nathan grabbed his arm, shaking his head in a negative when Lelouch started towards her.

"Miss?" Nathan asked after Lelouch had calmed himself and he had released him.

"Yes?" She replied.

"We have an appointment with Principal Ashford." Nathan said.

"Just a moment." She said while looking through her calendar. "Nathaniel Fields and Lelouch Lamprouge, correct?"

"That is correct." Nathan replied.

She picked up her desk phone, dialed a few numbers, which Lelouch read as 1-0-1

"Yes, Principal Ashford, your 9 O'clock is here." She said.

She listened a moment before saying, "yes sir, i'll send them right in."

"Principal Ashford will see you now, hall to your left, straight ahead to the double doors." She instructed.

Lelouch, having regained his composure, responded, "Yes m'am."

They walked down the right hand hall, and knocked on the double doors, which were somewhat greyed, like smoke, and glass. Lelouch tapped on the door.

"Come." Came the answer from within.

Lelouch opened the door and walked in, Nathan following. The Principal, whose name plate read Daniel Ashford, motioned for them to sit in the pair of upholstered leather chairs presented before them, they did so.

"All right, I know exactly what this is about and who you two are, so you can cut the act." Ashford said.

"Right." Lelouch said, assuming his usual, somewhat sarcastic tone.

"Of course." Nathan said, becoming suddenly stiff and attentive.

"Since you are attending this school, several of the staff requests made have been placed at various locations. In addition, visible uniformed school security have been added at certain points." Ashford said, "you have also been placed together, in the same room, and although it was impossible to make your schedules match exactly, Lelouch will always be in a class with one of his own men when you," he motioned to Nathan, "Are not with him."

"Excellent." Lelouch said.

"Here are your schedules, rooming assignments, and orientation information. Classes restart on wednesday, so you better familiarize yourself with the campus layout." Ashford said, dismissing them.

"Very well, sir." Lelouch said, slipping back into his act now that they were getting ready to leave.

Nathan stood up, walked over to the door, and opened it, holding it open while lelouch stepped through, shortly followed by Nathan himself.

They walked back down the hall and out the door past the receptionist before opening the sheets they had been handed, and they started comparing schedules, like two schoolboys checking for which classes they had together. Except they were checking the ones they didn't have in common. First Block they shared a science- Biology, Second Block was English 2, third block was Mathematics, Pre-Calculus, and Fourth Block was History, Brittanian.

Nathan, on the other hand, shared the bio and english classes, but they did not share their math or history classes, both of which however, were being taught by members of the newly formed royal guard. On alternate days, more commonly referred to as B-days, they shared all their classes, Gym, Art, Drama, and Music. Basic classes for graduation. It was with all this that they were having to contend, plus the requirement that they would have to join a club.

A list of clubs was attached, and he started looking, there was, unfortunately, no chess club. The only thing he was remotely interested in was student council. And that would mean he would have to work on the weird projects and festivals the school was famed for.

Ah well, he resigned himself to the fact that he would actually have to do work for once in his life, other than the light schoolwork he had been made to do by his tutors. He figured that work would come as a result of this little expedition. He supposed it would ready him for political life.

Not that he cared that much for political life. Politics was nothing but a means to an end for him, the support garnering, back-stabbing, and other court intrigue were meaningless and simple, all he needed was to stay in favor of the Emperor while doing this or risk losing it all. The Emperor. The man who would as soon found a new consort than allow Marianne to live. It had been mere luck that those men had realized in time and saved her. One died, the other, he hadn't looked particularly hard, as his uniform was beyond repair, and he had been transferred out just a few days afterwards.

He had assumed the man had succumbed to some injury he had sustained, and that he had died, and the transfer was an excuse to show him while they buried him. Ah, well it couldn't be helped, he had wanted to knight the man, but his mother had sent him away, even so far as to send him all the way to Area 11.

He would have his vengeance. For all the little things, and the big things. The little jibes against him, the always making him on the shorthanded or weaker side of anything. There was only one person he could ever really care for in this world, and that was Nunnally. Well then, he would devote every victory to her then, leave her pristine while he dirtied his hands.

First, he would need to take care of the most accessible target. That would be Clovis. Lelouch thought I lack the resources to directly challenge Clovis, and affiliating myself with terrorists will only dirty my image, maybe if I used my royal guard, no, they would never obey a regicide order like that, the OSI maybe? No their loyalty to the Emperor will stand between us. Then I'll need to wait for an opportunity to present its self. He went through all this quickly, but Nathan was still looking at him by the time he was finished.

"You okay?" Nathan asked.

"Fine, just thinking." Lelouch responded.

"Alright, let's find those dorms." Nathan said.

"Right" Lelouch said. They took off at a quick walk to find the dorms.

* * *

On the roof of a building outside the campus, a sniper team, gun ready, stood. They weren't Brittanian Military, or OSI, or any other Brittanian force. They were japanese. They were there to wait for an opportunity to present itself, before security tightened. Their organization, Sensō Heishi, had been formed by Naoto Kouzoki, to fight for the liberation of japan. Naoto had long hated the Brittanians, despite being half Brittanian himself.

It was Naoto who had brought money, intel, supplies, weapons, they had even managed to get themselves a knightmare and some energy fillers for it. He had supplied training, teaching men to teach others, showing them how to beat knightmares.

Then, those damned Brittanians had gotten a lead on him. They had hunted down his headquarters, but he managed to escape with most of his staff. Then, a few more months, before they had been found, and the only survivor was Ohgi. A lesser lieutenant, he had assumed control of a downsized Sensō Heishi. He had retrained them for precision strikes, to operate in small teams, strike specific targets, and no more.

Now it was their turn. As the prince came into sight, the shooter started lining up the shot, the spotter calling out the minute changes in a whisper. They were both unseen and unheard. One thought he heard a helicopter overhead, but it was probably nothing.

The shot was lined up, all that was left to do was pull the trigger. His finger was itching to pull it. He was interupted however, by a lound bang and a blinding flash. Before he really knew what was happening, he was being hauled away from the edge of the building and his gun was out of his hand. He tried looking around, but was rewarded with a knock to the head, a hard one too. He had no choice but to remain still. then, something pricked his arm, and he knew no more.

* * *

Lieutenant George Washington VII watched as the two terrorists were dragged away after being drugged into submission. Two of his men were also examining the weapons and equipment they had with them. The building they were on was a small apartment complex, and they were to find the one those two had been using as a base.

"Promary mission objective accomplished. Move on to secondary missions, as planned." Washington ordered.

"yes sir." The men replied, they were all wearing full body armor, and so only using his helmet's HUD could he identify them, he looked out across to the campus, and saluted in the direction where Lelouch had been.

It was his pleasure to serve.

* * *

AN: first off, for those of you who aren't gamers: HUD stands for Heads Up Display.

that out of the waygg this one took a while, because I was watching Gundam 00 and a little bit of Sword Art Online. Both great animus, and I'm considering starting another project using sword art online.

Hope you enjoyed

-Felledor


	7. Chapter 7 Aftermath

January 15, 2015 A.T.B.

Lelouch looked up, surprised at the sudden, loud, bang it was unusual for something to be so loud. Then he noticed the helicopter, ostensibly marked as a police unit, and the men on the rooftop in black body armor. Nathan was looking as well, before he grabbed hold of Lelouch and practically dragged him to the dorms at an uncomfortable pace.

"That settles it, it's dangerous here, the Emperor must have his reasons though." Nathan said, after closing and locking the door.

"I didn't have any choice." Lelouch replied.

"I know, but the fact is this area is unstable, only people who actually live here for work should be here, others should be kept away." Nathan said.

"Even so, the military managed to catch this one, and that armor had a patch on it, unusual, since most units wear unmarked armor." Lelouch said.

"As it is, I'm going to have to come up with routes that avoid being visible from the outside." Nathan continued, ignoring Lelouch's comment.

"Nathan?" Lelouch said.

Nathan took a moment to recover from the interruption, he had been beginning to rant a about how much work this new development was going to cause him. "What?" Nathan replied, barely holding his composure.

"The white stripes, with three red stripes, and a blue field and a star in the center, what unit sigil is that?" Lelouch asked

"I'm not sure, it's not a sigil I've heard of before." Nathan replied.

"Neither have I, it's the same colors, if I'm correct, that the rebels in Washington's rebellion used, in a similar pattern." Lelouch speculated.

"I'll have a look." Nathan said.

Lelouch allowed himself a small grin, his play to change the subject had worked, planning to Nathan's interests had worked, in other words, he had figured out how to be the puppet master behind Nathan.

* * *

Vince was sitting in his office, preparing lesson plans for the upcoming semester, when his military radio crackled to life.

"Captain Regas, check in on the prince." The voice said. But something gave Vince pause. He knew that voice, he just couldn't put a name to it. He pulled the radio out.

"Copy, checking in with the principle." Regas said. Thihacked return had been created during an earlier meeting, in which a personal protection specialist from the OSI had been involved, he had mentioned that the person being protected was often referred to as the principle, and since this was a school, principle would sound the same as principal, making deceiving eavesdroppers easier.

Vince pushed his chair back, stood up, and walked around the mahogany desk and exited the door, simple wood, with some carving work done. He exited the building, which was one of the classroom buildings. He immediately noticed the "Police" helicopter and men in black armor, and knew what was going on. Then one of the men turned so Vince saw him side on, and Vince swap the same sigil that Lelouch had seen earlier, the star and stripes symbol, which even Vince was unaware of.

Filing this in his memory, Vince made his way to the dormitory building through a growing throng of students curios about the police raid. When he arrived at Lelouch's dorm, on the bottom floor, he realized that people were looking at him oddly. He brushed the thought aside, and continued on to knock on the door.

"Who calls?" Came a voice from inside. That personal protection specialist.

"Mr. Regas, for Lelouch Lamprouge." Vince said.

"One moment." Came the other voice.

the door opened a crack, still chained, while the boy confirmed Vince was who he said he was. After that, the door shut while it was unchained, and then opened to admit Vince.

"What is it?" The young prince asked from the bed.

"Just a standard check-in, you know I'm required, and with that whole brouhaha going on I suppose I was wanted for an irregular check-in." Vince explained

"I am well, and whole, thank you very much, so you may return to whatever you were doing before you came to check in on me." Lelouch said, brushing the event aside.

Vince had come to expect this from royalty from his time at the palace, they were primarily arrogant, with very little respect for anyone without a noble or royal title. Vince had learned to ignore this and move on. However, this one in particular seemed to have something out for him, maybe he should have taken that bullet, because it would have taught the little baby a lesson, that he had to respect the men under him who were working to protect him day and night.

"Well?" The prince said, impatient.

"Good day." Vince said, before exiting the room.

Vince had never been particularly impressed by the prince, who had always had the arrogant, aristocratic air about him, he was smart, yes, and perceptive, but he still had those failings. Perhaps a semester of being grounded with with work would give the kid a clue as to what the word humble meant.

He exited the building, the prince's dorm was located on the third floor, close enough to the bottom to evacuate quickly, but high enough to be difficult to access. He crossed the park and returned to his office, the crowd which had been gathering had dispersed, and the helicopter and men were gone, likely they were already in interrogation with exterior security.

* * *

In an Interrogation chamber, one of the prisoners sat, handcuffed to the chair. Waiting. They had said nothing to him, he had been given poor food and plain water. Then they had n forced him here. He sat with his back straight, his knees in front of him, and his head up. He would not be cowed by the Brittanians.

after a few minutes passed, a soldier and an officer entered. By his rank badges and eppaulettes He guessed the officer was a Major. Fairly high ranked interrogator.

"Your Name?" The Soldier asked.

"I'm not saying anything more than this. Go die in a hole Brittanian." He responded.

"Listen, we know what you were up to, spying on a school. Probably planning to blow it up." The soldier said.

He decided not to give the soldier the satisfaction of a response. The soldier had also told him something. That knowledge of the prince was being kept to the higher echelons of the military, probably only a select few knew about him.

"You know, If you give us what we ask for, things can go a lot easier for you." The major said.

Ah, so the method was good cop, bad cop. As part of their training, and assuming thy would at some point be captured, they had been conditioned to resist several forms of interrogation, including torture.

"Well? You going to answer him?" The soldier shouted, at the same time punching him in the head, then kicking him in the crotch after the chair toppled.

from the floor, he heard the major say something to the soldier, "we'll need to use the alternate method. Call for the appropriate apparatus." Then he brave into the pain, and knew no more.

* * *

AN: this one took a while to put together. I also took the entirety of my holidays off. I hope you enjoyed.

-Felledor


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